Now Available - Moratorium Exceptions Process Application Materials

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Jeff Bostic

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) recently released the application materials for an unexpected round of the nursing facility moratorium exceptions process, which are available on the MDH web site. Care centers interested in applying will need to complete all of the required application materials and return them to MDH by June 25. Following a presentation to a review committee later this year, MDH will have a list of approved projects by Sept. 3, 2021.

There is $702,144 in state funding available for moratorium exceptions projects in this round. That figure comes from projects approved in previous rounds that did not go forward. Unfortunately, the legislature did not appropriate additional funding in 2020 which is why there was no round announced that year. The Long-Term Care Imperative is pushing for additional funding in the current legislature to conduct another round later this year, which is much needed to upgrade physical plants to make infection control efforts more effective.

Although it may not sound like much, the amount of state funding available in this round will allow a good amount of investment in Minnesota care centers. The available state funding, which is applied only to the first-year state cost of approved projects, may cover as much as $100 million in much needed construction on Minnesota care centers. While very helpful, the funding is unfortunately far short of the total investment needed.

Under the nursing facility property rate system, a moratorium exception approval allows the provider to have their entire property rate calculated based on a rental value formula adopted by the 2019 legislature. That formula is simpler and tends to produce a better rate of return than the old system, so each moratorium exceptions round that is available will likely be very competitive as the round in 2019 was.